This is a sermon I gave on Sunday Aug. 20 in Oslo, Norway at Kulturkirken Jakob (St. James Church of Culture). Actor and film director Liv Ullmann read the scripture passages.
Wow. I have given up on metaphysics in favor of humanism, but that resonates. Thank you, Chris. You are also a wild man prophet shouting apropos warnings in the wilderness. I hope you find peace and satisfaction in your selfless efforts for humanity.
Great sermon, Chris!! I wish I could have been there to hear it.
The way you go through the dynamics of Assange's persecution is sublime.
The American Empire is collapsing and our corporate masters are desperate to stop anyone who challenges or questions the approved narrative. Right now the collapse is moving kinda slowly, but like so many existential issues that start out slowly, it can get really fast, really quickly.
I was hoping someone would compare Julian's situation to Jesus Christ without it sounding absurd. This article is outstanding and historic, a truly great work. Thank you.
Thank-you, dear Christopher Hedges - for this speech in defence of my brave and incorruptible fellow countryman, Julian Assange as well as for all others who speak and illuminate the truth in the face of the abuse of power of those who rule - who rule not wisely nor with compassion but who rule to reap the profits of inhumanity and illegality - against the truth. I shall spread this far and wide...
Hedges calls for "constant acts of mass civil disobedience..." He calls for "constant acts of social and political disruption". Really? What civil disobedience? What political disruption? The particulars are glaringly in omission. It appears he desperately wants to be a leader to free his friend, Julian Assange from Belmarsh prison, but he doesn't know how to lead. Leadership means organizing and calling for specific action. He does neither. Rather, he chooses to hide behind the safety of the religious cloak by staying on the safe side of the law that guarantees expression of religious freedom. Indeed, upon his shield he writes words of religious expression (indeed copied from many others) which involve no social disruption; no civil disobedience whatsoever. He safely writes "pick up the cross and bear its awful weight on our back". Whatever. We've heard you utter these words before. This was, at best, a better draft.
I can only surmise that Hedges prefers to make Julian Assange out to be a prophet so he can safely (and legally) hide behind religious ideology that keeps him legally protected in the U.S.--and obfuscates the issue. In shorts he wants to start a revolution on religious grounds when there are none to stand on. This is totally unnecessary and futile. To the contrary, I believe Julian Assange simply discovered illegal activity in an erstwhile civil society--and worked unflinchingly to expose it under the power of the Press. No prophet connotations were needed. This is a civil matter to be resolved civilly. Martin Luther King did this (with the civil right matters of his day) by organizing marches, promoting sit ins, etc. Boycotts and petitions have also been effective civil means of protest. Nonetheless, King did his part most effectively by being a leader on the street, not a preacher in the pulpit. I suggest Hedges start offering similar civil solutions in order to address Julian's illegal prosecution-- if he really wants to be similarly effective.
I am an atheist. I am disgusted by the way we are treating Julian Assange. I am ashamed to be an American. We are the monsters.
Holy cow is this a hard hitting piece! EXCELLENT!
Thank you again, Chris, for coming to Norway and delivering such a powerful and inspirational sermon.
Wow. I have given up on metaphysics in favor of humanism, but that resonates. Thank you, Chris. You are also a wild man prophet shouting apropos warnings in the wilderness. I hope you find peace and satisfaction in your selfless efforts for humanity.
Great sermon, Chris!! I wish I could have been there to hear it.
The way you go through the dynamics of Assange's persecution is sublime.
The American Empire is collapsing and our corporate masters are desperate to stop anyone who challenges or questions the approved narrative. Right now the collapse is moving kinda slowly, but like so many existential issues that start out slowly, it can get really fast, really quickly.
Y'all stay safe out there.
Your voice is so important on every level..in all dimensions
🫸🫷
I was hoping someone would compare Julian's situation to Jesus Christ without it sounding absurd. This article is outstanding and historic, a truly great work. Thank you.
The truth has never seemed so clear and yet so difficult to bear and act upon.
It is difficult to explain American history to Americans.
Jefferson assembled The American Bible: The Life and Moral of Jesus of Nazareth in 1820.
He was my age in 1820 when 70 was very very old.
Jefferson said every generation deserves its own constitution.
Jefferson didn't believe in magic.
Jefferson understood that God only believes in evolution.
I lived for a decade in Woodlawn Chicago where Bobby Rush defeated Barrack Obama because In 1776 Jefferson was a liberal extremist.
Obama is far too conservative.
"Perception is real in its consequences." Voltaire
Absolutely awesome! And so very real...
Very powerful. Thank you for this
Thank-you, dear Christopher Hedges - for this speech in defence of my brave and incorruptible fellow countryman, Julian Assange as well as for all others who speak and illuminate the truth in the face of the abuse of power of those who rule - who rule not wisely nor with compassion but who rule to reap the profits of inhumanity and illegality - against the truth. I shall spread this far and wide...
Vote for Vivek... the only candidate promising to pardon Assange.
Damn straight.
Hedges calls for "constant acts of mass civil disobedience..." He calls for "constant acts of social and political disruption". Really? What civil disobedience? What political disruption? The particulars are glaringly in omission. It appears he desperately wants to be a leader to free his friend, Julian Assange from Belmarsh prison, but he doesn't know how to lead. Leadership means organizing and calling for specific action. He does neither. Rather, he chooses to hide behind the safety of the religious cloak by staying on the safe side of the law that guarantees expression of religious freedom. Indeed, upon his shield he writes words of religious expression (indeed copied from many others) which involve no social disruption; no civil disobedience whatsoever. He safely writes "pick up the cross and bear its awful weight on our back". Whatever. We've heard you utter these words before. This was, at best, a better draft.
I can only surmise that Hedges prefers to make Julian Assange out to be a prophet so he can safely (and legally) hide behind religious ideology that keeps him legally protected in the U.S.--and obfuscates the issue. In shorts he wants to start a revolution on religious grounds when there are none to stand on. This is totally unnecessary and futile. To the contrary, I believe Julian Assange simply discovered illegal activity in an erstwhile civil society--and worked unflinchingly to expose it under the power of the Press. No prophet connotations were needed. This is a civil matter to be resolved civilly. Martin Luther King did this (with the civil right matters of his day) by organizing marches, promoting sit ins, etc. Boycotts and petitions have also been effective civil means of protest. Nonetheless, King did his part most effectively by being a leader on the street, not a preacher in the pulpit. I suggest Hedges start offering similar civil solutions in order to address Julian's illegal prosecution-- if he really wants to be similarly effective.
You can watch R T dot com . His 2016 2017 shows our on there